


See You in the Eternal Flames

by PepperJam



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Crimson Flower, Divergent Timelines, Female My Unit | Byleth, Multi, Past Life Memories, Past Lives, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Selectively Mute Byleth, Tailtean Plains, sorry if these tags are awful this is really hard to categorize
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:35:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23843110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PepperJam/pseuds/PepperJam
Summary: The Kingdom army has been destroyed at the Tailtean Plains. The generals lie dead at the hands of the Black Eagles. Byleth takes the lead to stop the final beating blue heart, but something stops her from finishing Dimitri...
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23





	See You in the Eternal Flames

**Author's Note:**

> POV: You are walking on the sidewalk. A car honks behind you. It’s me. I pull up and lower my sunglasses. “Hey kid. You like to cry?”  
> Hello, this is my big debut on this website. All I have to say is that I like FE3H and crying. I will almost exclusively write angst, but at times fluff. As a treat.
> 
> I’ve had this idea for a while, a head canon that Byleth remembers everything from the previous routes you’ve done. I’m taking that head canon and directly stabbing my heart because I love pain and suffering.
> 
> Sorry if the switch between Byleth and Dimitri’s...perspective? Seems jarring. Couldn’t fix it while preserving the narrative. 
> 
> Just another small headcanon - I’d like to think in silver snow and crimson flower, Byleth is selectively mute while verdant wind and azure moon has them speaking. No real reason tbh. Just my thoughts.
> 
> PS. Dimileth 4 lyfe. Thank you.

Rain crashed ever so gently onto the mud of the Tailtean Plains, pools building with dirt and blood. So much like in past events, boots of soldiers pounded across these grounds not once, not twice, but thrice in Fódlan’s history. Once to defeat a fell king, twice to liberate a kingdom, and now thrice to expand the Empire.  
However, now only storms sounded as troops of blue lie dead. Faces submerged in murky ponds, or turned upwards showing last moments of regret, horror, or despair. The Duscur general shared such a fate, but his face was stone, his eyes closed, forever ignorant to the war around him. Only red hearts beat now on the Tailtean Plains.

Alas, one still breathed that donned the blue. Stricken by golden hair and a dark shadow, King Dimitri fell to his knees, his leg wounded by Bernadetta’s arrow. The man clenched his teeth, determined to not let any sound of anguish out, determined to lend no satisfaction to the Empire.  
His blue eyes casted downward to the wet stone, droplets cascading as the rain droned on. He had made his last stand; the least he could do was to go down fighting.  
But before he could bear the pain to stand on his injured leg, someone stepped in front of him, and something compelled him to look up.

“...Why did you choose Edelgard, Professor?” The blue king asked, meeting the mint green eyes of Byleth. The enlightened one, the earthly woman chosen by the goddess...and here she was, actively aiding and leading the destruction of the land Sothis cared for. “Why did you choose to walk this savage, bloody path?”  
Byleth held her silence. All she did was reach for her sword, its clicking shifts sharp against the thundering storm. Dimitri narrowed his eyes, gripping Areadbhar tightly.

Byleth could feel the eyes of the Emperor on her as she lifted the Sublime Sword above her head. Unlike Dimitri, she had no regrets. She had made her choice and never looked back. Here, the brighter future would be one step closer.  
She returned Dimitri’s scornful gaze, eyebrows furrowed and eyes burning with stubbornness. Rain pounded down as Byleth finally moved to swing her sword into the Faerghus king - 

_“Your hands are so warm...have they always been?”_

The Sublime Sword clattered onto the ground, Dimitri nearly jumped out of his own skin. Edelgard’s eyes widened as she saw Byleth take staggering steps backwards. Held down by heavy imperial armor, she couldn’t rush to her side. “Professor! What - are you alright?!”  
The enlightened one couldn’t focus as she heard more ethereal voices...no, it was one voice, that of the king destined to die by her hand.

_“You saved me from the darkness...and guided me back to the light.”_

Not just his voice now...but his face. It was different; he was missing an eye, covered up by an opaque black eyepatch. And he was smiling so genuinely. Just as he did, Byleth could feel her heart bloom and flutter.  
She clutched her head, horror mixing with pride and joy as these hallucinations - no, _visions_ played before her eyes. 

Another one. This time, she spoke. Why would she speak?  
_“Will you protect me if I’m in trouble?”_  
The Dimitri she saw - the one that made her so, so happy - smiled back. _“Of course. You were the heart of the Blue Lions, and the same holds true for the Kingdom army.”_

Byleth could hear the clicking of armor, but it was quickly drowned out by the swirling thoughts in her head. Kingdom army? Heart of the Blue Lions? No, no...this had to be some trick. A trick by a Faerghus gremory in order to pull one last trump card to secure victory for the church. She shook her head violently, as though these visions were merely mud stuck to her hair. Perhaps if she jumped into the river, they would go away.

Another one came crashing through.  
The Faerghus King held her hand under the soft glow of dawn, smiling ever so gently, his single eye filled with love and admiration. Byleth returned Dimitri’s adoring gaze. _“Your hands...now that I hold them within my own, I see how small and fragile they are.”_

“PROFESSOR!”  
Edelgard’s shout shattered the image before her. The heavenly oranges and pinks of the sunrise were drowned by the dark grays and brown of the battlefield. In the split second, she could see the man who was wearing her father’s ring charging at her, marred with the harsh glow of Areadbhar’s crest. Blue eyes once filled with love were filled with hatred and rage.  
Then, Dimitri collapsed. His azure cape turned a ruddy maroon as blood began to pour from his back. Aymr was lodged right into his spine. Despite the odds, he didn’t die instantly, held onto enough energy to utter his last words.  
“No! Not yet...I can’t die just yet…”

_”These hands that have saved me countless times...thank you, my beloved.”_

The red emperor stepped over the body of the blue king, just as the Black Eagles rushed to their Professor. However, Byleth couldn’t tell, the images swimming in her sight. Like dripping paint, fading from the battle to the Goddess Tower within seconds, black gloves holding her hands, hugging her, a blue wedding joined by cheering. A kiss to steal her breath away.

“Professor! Professor Byleth! You are not harmed, are you?” Edelgard’s voice came through, warped by worry and distress. Her red gloves came above Byleth’s shoulders to steady her. That was enough to bring her professor to the present, pulling her up from the visions.  
The green haired woman blinked several times, darting her sight between her students. Confusion filled her mind like a thick sludge that Byleth could only hope to climb out of it. At last, she simply nodded once.  
The Emperor sighed. She knew that was all she could get. “I suppose exhaustion had caught up with you...that’s why you stumbled backwards.” She brought Byleth in a shallow hug, then released her when she only froze even further.  
“Killing someone you once knew can do that to you...after fighting multiple demonic beasts and soldiers.” Dorothea added, her eyes unable to look away from the king’s still bleeding corpse.  
Ferdinand came to the Professor, draping a surprisingly dry blanket over her shoulders. “Come now, Professor. You are obviously too overwhelmed to stay out in this rain. Let us guide you to the camp.”

Byleth could only look to the ground as the rain began to soak the blanket.  
“I cannot leave the field for now, I must survey the grounds for any remaining troops.” Edelgard walked to Dimitri, pulling her relic out of his body. “Hubert?”  
The Vestra lord bowed deeply. “At your command, Your Majesty.”  
Edelgard nodded, and looked to the Black Eagles. “Of course. The rest of you are free to return. And Professor...take as much rest as you need.”

They all went their separate ways. The emperor and her vassal joined the Imperial army, and the Black Eagles guided their exhausted teacher back to the camp and out of the rain. They all made their small talk with Byleth along the way, albeit she would only give a weak smile or a nod. After all, that voice was still ringing through her head.

_“Your kind, warm hands...may they cling to my own forevermore.”_


End file.
